Freeing hotels from technological shackles to create more sustainable businesses

Technology can often feel like a barrier standing
between a business and its goals. In an ideal world, all the new generation
platforms and theories – big data,﻿﻿ social media, the internet of things – ultimately connects us
and enables us to make better sense of the world. In reality, vendors cannot
update software quickly enough to satisfy the business world.﻿﻿But a quiet revolution is solving this problem. Open Systems are changing the way all businesses – including hotels
– operate. In today’s world, innovation, flexibility, and speed are key to
competitive advantage; IT needs underpins commercial agility, and open systems
deliver it.

Open systems are different from static proprietary
systems because (as the name suggests) it is open to all. Can you imagine a
world where hotels could plug into IT like we plug
into utility services? That’s what open systems provide – an all-encompassing
IT platform that gives hoteliers the most current and cutting-edge software on
a daily basis. Open systems are higher quality and more secure than static
proprietary systems, as they can continually be upgraded and improved by
developers. They are ‘unlocked’ so a hotelier’s system can be tailored and
modified to fit specific needs, and operate in tandem with third party
software. They are also eminently scalable for any size of hotel, and hoteliers
can grow alongside their IT systems. Anyone who has owned an Android smartphone
will have felt the power and freedom of open technology.

You have likely heard the phrase “due diligence” from your California real estate attorney. This concept means the efforts that must be employed in order to help you determine if you are about to make a good deal or not. This process can help highlight risks that you had not imagined as well as potential benefits. However, attorneys do not deal with the daily operations of the hotel, as a firm that specializes in hotel development consulting in California does. By adding a firm that focuses on hotel development consulting in California to your research team, you can rest assured that you have assembled a competent team to represent your interests.​When purchasing an existing hotel or considering building your own, a consulting firm can help assess the potential profits that can be gleaned from the project. A careful analysis of financial documents can help discover the strengths and the weaknesses of the business, such as a solid earnings history or difficulty retaining a stead workforce. Consultants can view general financial documents, including profit and loss statements, balance sheets and tax returns. They can also review information that may significantly impact the business, such as proposed changes to zoning laws, the government’s use of eminent domain in the area and proposed areas for new development.

Although consultants are not lawyers, they can provide useful information about the hotel’s legal history. They can review if the hotel development has been the target of lawsuits or if it has not complied with local and state laws. With a unique perspective, hotel consultants can provide advice about conditions and contingencies that should be included in development contracts. They also know the major players in the market and may be able to help forge new business relationships between them or highlight potential risks of the competition.